# Is TradieFinance a lender or a broker? > TradieFinance is a finance broker for NZ tradies — not a lender. One application across a panel of lenders, placed where it fits your situation best. Source: https://tradiefinance.co.nz/help/is-tradiefinance-a-lender-or-broker Published: 2026-05-13T08:00:00.000Z Category: business-finance Tags: faq, business-finance Image: https://tradiefinance.co.nz/images/resources/generated/tradie/faq/is-tradiefinance-a-lender-or-broker-primary.jpg Image alt: A tradie reviewing finance options for Is TradieFinance a lender or a broker? --- Short version: we are a broker, not a lender. We do not have our own pile of money sitting in a vault. What we have is a panel — a group of lenders we work with every day — and the job of getting your application in front of the right one. ## Broker vs lender — what's the actual difference? A lender is the business that puts up the cash. They own the loan, set the rules and carry the risk. Think the big banks plus the specialist asset and trade finance companies. A broker — that's us — sits in between you and those lenders. We do not approve anything ourselves. Instead we take your situation, work out which lenders are the best fit, and present your application to them on your behalf. You get a real person who knows the panel; the lender still makes the call on the money. The simplest way to think about it: one lender sells you what's on their own shelf. A broker walks the whole street and brings back the options that actually fit you. ## Why the panel matters for tradies Every lender has a different appetite. One loves established LTD companies with two years of clean financials. Another is comfortable with a sparkie who went out on their own eight months ago. One will fund a 10-year-old tipper; the next won't touch anything over seven. If you go straight to a single lender and you don't fit their box, you get a no — and you're back to square one, applying somewhere else. That's how tradies end up with three or four credit enquiries stacked up in a few weeks, which can drag your score down right when you need it healthy. Because we know the panel, we aim your application at the lenders most likely to say yes for your specific setup — newly self-employed, [low-doc](/glossary/low-doc-loan), bad-credit history, GST-registered or not. One go, the right door. You fill it in once. We do the running around. Instead of you re-keying the same details into five lender portals, we package it properly and place it where it has the best shot — including a [business-purpose declaration](/glossary/business-purpose-declaration) so genuine business finance is handled the right way. ## So how does one application reach many lenders? You have one conversation with us and complete one application. From there we: - read your situation — trading history, what you're buying (ute, van, tools, plant), your structure and your numbers - match it to the lenders on our panel whose criteria fit you best - present it to them, answer their questions, and chase the paperwork - come back to you with the options that stack up, in plain words You're not promised approval — no honest broker can promise that, and no real rate gets quoted until a lender actually looks at your file. But you get the work done for you and a clear read on where you stand. Want the full run-through? See [how to apply for tradie finance](/guides/how-to-apply-for-tradie-finance). ## Does using a broker cost you more? Common worry, and a fair one. Going through a broker doesn't automatically mean a worse deal — often it's the opposite, because we're putting your file in front of the lenders most likely to compete for it. We're upfront about how we get paid; the full breakdown is in [what does TradieFinance cost](/help/what-does-tradiefinance-cost). Want to talk to a real broker who knows the trades? No hard sell, no obligation — just a straight chat about your situation and which lenders might fit. [Book a call](/book-a-call) or head to our [help centre](/help) and we'll point you the right way.